ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Members of Syrian state forces who committed violations during the deadly violence in Druze-majority Suwayda province “have been arrested and referred to the judiciary,” the commission appointed by Damascus to investigate the July events reported on Sunday. The remarks come as the ceasefire between Damascus-affiliated forces and Druze armed groups has once again been breached in recent days.
In a press conference presenting its findings, the National Commission of Inquiry into the Suwayda events said that “individuals from the [Syrian] defense and interior ministries who were found to have committed violations have been arrested and referred to the judiciary.”
The commission, which has investigated the events over the past three months, further noted that “a number of foreigners who appeared in videos from Suwayda participated in the violence spontaneously, entering alongside the tribes amid the prevailing chaos.” It stressed, however, that “these individuals were not part of any Syrian army units.”
Clashes between Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes erupted in mid-July, escalating further with the involvement of Damascus forces and Israel. In a report released in late July, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), a prominent non-profit organization, said that more than 800 Syrians had been killed and over 900 injured in the Suwayda violence.
A ceasefire was announced on July 19. Since then, Syrian security forces have been deployed across the province, while Druze factions continue to control Suwayda city.
In late July, the Syrian justice ministry formed the commission “to determine legal responsibilities and refer those involved to the competent judiciary in accordance with legal procedures.”
The commission said Sunday it has also worked to help secure the release of several individuals kidnapped during the violence and has visited areas beyond Suwayda, including the Jaramana and Sahnaya districts in southern Damascus, where many Druze reside.
The body further noted that it has requested “a two-month extension of our mandate” due to its inability to access all areas of Suwayda province, stressing that the July violence in the Druze-majority region is “a crime that has struck the entire Syrian society.”
The commission’s remarks come as the ceasefire in Suwayda has been repeatedly violated in recent days, with reports of drone strikes and renewed clashes between Damascus-affiliated forces and Druze fighters, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
SOHR reported Sunday that the “al-Majdal village axis” in Suwayda’s western countryside “was hit by five consecutive drone strikes” attributed to “government forces and their affiliates.” It added that “intermittent ground clashes” also erupted in the nearby “Aray-Khirbet Samar axis between the National Guard and government elements,” citing a local activist who warned that “the use of armed drones represents a serious and deliberate escalation.”
The National Guard is a unified local Druze paramilitary organization established in Suwayda in late August, bringing together more than 30 armed factions from the province. The umbrella group operates under the guidance of the Druze community’s preeminent spiritual figure, Hikmat al-Hajri, a vocal critic of Damascus who, following the July violence, has reiterated that self-determination for Syria’s Druze is “an absolute right that cannot be abandoned.”
In a Saturday statement on its official Facebook page, the National Guard accused Damascus forces of “continuing their aggressive approach in a series of consecutive breaches” west of Suwayda, adding that “any aggression will be met with an appropriate deterrent, regardless of its type or source.”